Colorful Kapusniak (Or, Polish Bacon, Blue Potato, and Red Cabbage Soup)

I understand now. This does not make it acceptable or okay. But. I do understand.

This is to say that I have realized

we collide.

And it can be so difficult to predict the various directions we refract from there, it seems.

Just think of all the places we have been,

and how no one is required to cater to you and how sometimes they might feel they have but you may not have received it that way and how this applies in the opposite direction(s), too, and how one person’s capacities can predict the reality of their experience and the experience of others

[and how they may not even see that happening when it is happening]

A whole world later, craving this thing I did not even want to consume when it was prepared for me and choosing colorful versions of all of its parts but even smelling it does not make it make sense, except

bacon and potatoes and paprika will always be right – no matter the expression – especially when the bacon is thick-cut and the potatoes turn blue and the paprika is also smoked and the cabbage is purple and the carrots are all of the colors with brine and spicy mustard when the bread meets the broth and we slurpcrunch

losing track of what was important all along in order to find it again ===> warmth

One Year: Coffee-Cardamom Layer Cake with Sweetened Condensed Milk Frosting
Two Years: Chipotle-Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tacos with Pomegranate Seeds and Feta
Three Years: Pumpkin Cake with Maple-Cream Cheese Frosting
Four Years: Pan Con Tomate Y Manchego
Five Years: Honey Buttermilk Biscuits

Colorful Kapusniak
Makes about 8-10 servings

4 slices of thick-cut bacon
1/2 red onion, diced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
3 multi-colored carrots, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 head of red cabbage, sliced into thin shreds
6 blue potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch thick chunks
1/2 cup sauerkraut
1/4 cup sauerkraut brine
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp smoked paprika
pinch of cayenne
2 quarts chicken stock
chives, for serving
coarse dijon mustard, for serving
sourdough or other crusty bread, for serving

Heat a frying pan on medium-high, then add bacon and cook until crisp on both sides. When cooked, reserve 2 tbsp bacon fat and transfer the bacon to a plate with a paper towel to degrease. Break the bacon into little pieces, reserving for later. In a large pot on medium-low, heat the bacon fat. Add the red onion and season with sea salt and black pepper, stirring to coat and cooking until translucent. Stir in the carrots and bell pepper and cook until tender. Add red cabbage and blue potatoes, and cook another 5 minutes. Stir in sauerkraut and brine. Add tomato paste, paprika, smoked paprika, and cayenne, stirring to coat. Pour in the chicken stock and increase the heat to high, then cover. Allow the soup to come to a boil before reducing to a simmer for another 15 minutes. Season to taste with sea salt and pepper. Serve with bacon pieces, chives, mustard, and crusty bread.